Sign holder

ABSTRACT

A sign holder, comprises a sheet of material, having top, bottom and side edges and front and rear faces and formed by parallel elongate connecting portions extending between spaced laminas and elongate openings between the connecting portions. A length of wire is bent to form a ground engagement member and an upper portion formed of two arms extends up from the ground engagement member to the sheet and having a pair of vertically spaced upper ends engaging in the openings at opposite sides of the sheet.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to sign holders and, moreparticularly, to sign holders comprising a length of bent wiresupporting a sheet.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] Sign holders of this type are particularly useful in gardencenters and nurseries. For that purpose, it is essential for the signholders to be extremely simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

[0005] In the past, sign holders of this type have usually been formedwith one or more prongs, which are inserted into the ground in order tomaintain the sign holder in position. Many of these sign holders aresomewhat unstable and can turn in the holding medium.

[0006] However, the present inventor has appreciated that there is alsoa need for sign holders of this type which are economical to produce,easy to insert in pots or holding mediums and support the sign withouttipping or turning, thus providing better pot stability.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] According to the present invention, there is provided a signholder including a sheet of material formed of a pair of spaced laminaswith opposite side edges, a plurality of parallel elongate connectingportions extending from the opposite side edges between the laminas,forming elongate openings between said connecting portions and a lengthof wire bent to form a lower ground-engagement portion and having anupper portion with a pair of upper ends, one of the upper ends bent toproject into one of the elongate openings in one of the side edges ofthe sheet, and the other of the upper ends bent to project into one ofthe elongate openings in the other of the side edges of the sheet, theupper ends being mutually spaced apart.

[0008] When the sign holder is in use, a label or other notice on asheet of paper or cardboard can be clipped to the front face of thesheet and the clip will then retain it in position. Alternatively, amarker may be used to mark directly onto the surface of the sheet.

[0009] Because the upper ends of the upper portion of the length of wireare inserted into the elongate openings at spaced apart positions,generally vertically spaced apart positions, the sheet is securely heldrelative to the length of wire, against rotation or other deflection bythe wind. Thus, in an extremely simple manner, the sheet of material issecurely held in position by the upper ends of the upper portion of thelength of wire.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] The invention will be more readily understood from the followingdescription of an embodiment thereof given, by way of example, withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0011]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sign holder according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

[0012]FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the sign holder shown inFIG. 1;

[0013]FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the sign holder shown inFIGS. 1 and 2;

[0014]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a sign holder according to aanother embodiment of the present invention;

[0015]FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the sign holder shown in FIG.5; and

[0016]FIG. 6 is a rear elevational view of the sign holder shown inFIGS. 5 and 6.

DESCRIPTION OF TEE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] In FIGS. 1 to 3 there is illustrated a sign holder indicatedgenerally by reference numeral 10, which includes a sheet of material 11and a resilient elongate rod member 12. In the embodiment shown, the rodmember 12 is a length of wire which has a ground engagement bottomportion including a U-bend 14 with two arms 16, 18 projecting upwards ina V-shape. The first arm 16 extends upwards to a first inward projectingend 20 which fits into a top elongate opening 22 of the sheet 11, andthe second arm 18 extends upwards to a second inward projecting end 24fitting into a lower engagement opening of the sheet 11.

[0018] The sheet of material 11 is in the form of a corrugated plasticboard, substantially rectangular in shape, with a pair of spaced apartlaminas 30 and 32 connected by parallel connection portions 34 andextending between the laminas 30 and 32 from one opposing edge 36 to theother opposing edge 38. These connecting portions 34 form elongateopenings 22 which are substantially parallel to each other. The firstinward projecting end 20 is shown inserted into the top elongate opening22 on the opposing edge 38, while the second projecting end 24 is showninserted into a lower elongate opening 22 on the opposing edge 36. Thusthe sheet 11 is supported substantially vertically when the U-bend 14 ofthe ground engagement bottom portion is inserted into the holdingmedium.

[0019] The sheet of material 11 may have a paper or plastic labelattached by clips or adhesive with identification thereon. Alternativelythe sheet 11 may be marked on by a waterproof marker or suitable markerto identify a plant.

[0020] The length of wire 11 is preferably tensioned so the two arms 16and 18 press inwards thus retaining the projecting ends 20 and 24 in theelongate openings 22 of the sheet 11.

[0021] FIGS. 4 to 6 show a different sign holder which is indicatedgenerally by reference numeral 60, and which includes a sheet indicatedgenerally by reference numeral 62 and a length of bent wire indicatedgenerally by reference numeral 64.

[0022] The sheet 62 is similar to the above described sheet 11 andtherefore will not be described in greater detail.

[0023] The length of wire 64 is bent to form a lower ground engagementportion indicated generally by reference numeral 66, which has aU-shaped bend 68 with arms 70 and 71 which normally extend upwardlysubstantially parallel and adjacent one another to form a groundpenetration prong.

[0024] The first arm 70 merges into an upwardly and laterally inclinedportion 72 extending across the rear of the sheet 62 to an upper end 74,which is inserted into the sheet 62.

[0025] The second arm 71 merges into a substantially horizontal upperportion 76, which extends to a bent end portion 78 inserted into thesheet 62. It will be seen that the end portions 74 and 78 are mutuallyvertically spaced, so that the sheet 62 is thereby held from rotationabout either of the end portions 74 and 78.

[0026] As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, variousmodifications may be made to the above-described embodiments of theinvention within the scope of the appended claims.

1 A sign holder comprising a sheet of material having a pair of parallellaminas with parallel elongate connecting portions extending betweenopposing side edges forming elongate openings between the laminas andthe connecting portions, and a resilient elongate rod member having alower ground engagement portion with two arms projecting upwardstherefrom, said arms each having inward projecting ends to fit into oneof the elongate openings in each of the opposing side edges of thesheet, said inward projecting ends being mutually spaced apart.
 2. Thesign holder according to claim 1 wherein the resilient elongate rodmember is formed of a length of wire, and the lower ground engagementportion is a U-bend with said arms projecting therefrom.
 3. The signholder according to claim 2 wherein said arms project from the U-bend ina V-shape form, and said inward projecting ends are spaced apart toengage in the opposing side edges of the elongate openings.
 4. The signholder according to claim 3 wherein the V-shaped form is tensioned sothat the inward projecting ends are retained in the elongate openings.5. A sign holder, comprising a sheet of material formed of a pair ofspaced laminas with opposite side edges, a plurality of parallelelongate connecting portions extending from the opposite side edgesbetween said laminas forming elongate openings between said connectingportions, and a length of wire bent to form a ground-engagement memberand an upper portion, said upper portion having a pair of upper ends,one of said upper ends bent to project into one of the elongate openingsin one of said opposite side edges of the sheet, and the other of saidupper ends bent to project into one of the elongate openings in theother of said opposite side edges of the sheet.
 6. The sign holder asclaimed in claim 5, wherein said ground engagement portion comprises aU-shaped bend, said U-shaped bend having arms which extend upwardlyparallel to and adjacent one another, whereby said ground engagementmember forms a ground penetration prong.